1974 Triumph Tiger 750

6858 kilometer on the clock.

By 1973, Triumph Motorcycles was in serious trouble. Parent company BSA had managed to take Triumph from incredible success in the late 1960s, to the brink of insolvency by 1971. Through bad management, questionable backroom dealings and the onslaught of the Japanese, Triumph suddenly found itself woefully outclassed by its rivals. The Meriden factory re-redesigned the Triumph and while the 650cc TR6 Tiger remained, a new punched-out version was introduced called the TR7 750 Tiger.

Rather oddly the overall weight appears to have crept up by around 13.5 kg, even so, at 202 kg, the Tiger is still just about the lightest classic seven-fifty around. At 110 kph, the machine is merely ambling along, the motor turning over lazily on little more than a smidgeon of throttle. This gait can be kept up for kilometer after kilometer, hour after hour, with the minimum of effort by rider or engine.

This is one of ye olde-fashioned machines which does not have the nicety (or the complexities) of an electric starter. The very long-shanked kick starter is more than adequate to spin the crankshaft over with little muscular effort. The Tiger 750 is unsophisticated - but relaxing.